A common type of article carrier often used to package twelve beverage cans is the sleeve-type carrier. Basically, there are two different kinds of sleeve-type carriers. One of them completely encloses the cans and is formed from a generally rectangular production blank which is folded and glued by the blank manufacturer to form the top, bottom and side panels. It is shipped in collapsed form to the bottler who opens the semi-formed blank into its sleeve shape, inserts the cans and glues together flaps foldably connected to the blank to form the end panels. Traditionally, some parts of the beverage industry prefer this style of sleeve-type carrier.
The other kind of sleeve-type carrier, which others in the beverage industry prefer, employs end panels which are formed from mechanically interlocked flaps rather than adhesively connected flaps. The flap locking means has tended toward relatively massive locking tabs and related cutouts to hold the end panel flaps securely in place against the stresses caused by shifting cans and rough handling. Very often an additional set of tabs is provided which are designed to interlock with the aperture remaining in the flap from which the main locking tabs were struck. To accommodate these mechanisms and to provide added strength at this area of expected stress, the end panel flaps have overlapped each other a substantial distance. Although these designs have performed adequately, it would be desirable to reduce the cost of the carrier by reducing the extent of the overlap and therefore the amount of paperboard used in producing a carrier blank without impairing the performance of the carrier.